Kinship Myth in Ancient Greece

Chapter Five.

198 notes to PaGes 82–88 καὶ ἀναδάσασθαι πρὸς τοὺς Δωριέας τὴν γῆν, 4.3.6).Under normal circumstances, that would strengthen a case for legitimacy, but given the Spartans’ utter contempt for the Messenian people themselves, Archidamus had no use for such an argument. Finally, we have the likelihood that the Aepytid tradition hardly predates Archidamus’ speech anyway. 45. Thuc. 3.92. See further Malkin 1994: 219–235. Heracles was stronglyassociated with the original Trachis, and his son Hyllus was adopted into the Dorian royal family. Chapter 5 1. Fredricksmeyer 1990: 304. As a requirement of Macedonian society, the king would demonstrate military prowess, bestow benefactions on nobles, and have consultations with the council (as Agamemnon does in the Iliad).On the importance of honor to Alexander, in both Homeric and Macedonian contexts, see Roisman 2003, esp. 282–289.On the influence of Homer on Alexander, see Edmunds 1971: 372–374; Badian 1982: 48n.43; Fredricksmeyer 1990: 304–305. On Alexander’s rivalry with Philip, see Bosworth 1988a: 6–16; Fredricksmeyer 1990: 308–314; Worthington 2003a: 92–94 and 2004: 299–303. 2. The bibliography for Alexander’s alleged conception of the “unity of mankind” is vast. The debate began with Tarn’s idealistic portrayal (1948 [Vol. II]: 399–449), which received corrective responses from Badian 1958; Thomas 1968; Bosworth 1980. Worthington (2004: 246) tears down Tarn’s vision by showing how “pragmatic” Alexander’s racial integration in the army and administration was. 3. E.g., at 3.3.1 and 5.2.5. 4. The background on Greek and Macedonian perceptions of Macedonian identity, with emphasis on how myth was used to explain it, is discussed in more detail in Appendix Two. 5. E.g., was Heracles’ siege of Aornus a Macedonian fabrication, as Eratosthenes charged (Arr. 4.28.1–2; Strabo 15.1.8–9), and likewise the journey of Dionysus to India (Arr. 5.3.4; Strabo 15.1.7–8)? Also alleged was that Alexander’s flatterers moved the Caucasus further east and claimed to have found the cave where Heracles had released Prometheus (Arr. 5.3.2–3; Strabo 15.1.8). This is the context for the kinship diplomacy with the Nysaeans, the Oxydracae, and the Sibi in India. 6. Green 1991: 159. 7. Polyaen. Strat. 4.3.23. 8. Θετταλοὺς ὑπομνήσας τῆς ἀρχαίας ἀφ᾿ Ἡρακλέους συγγενείας καὶ λόγοις φιλανθρώποις, ἔτι δὲ μεγάλαις ἐπαγγελίαις μετεωρίσας, 17.4.1. 9. In transitu hortatusThessalos fuerat beneficiorumque Philippi patris maternaeque suae cum his ab Aeacidarum gente necessitudinis admonuerat, 11.3.1. 10. E.g., Hdt. 8.137–139; Thuc. 2.99.3; Isoc. 5.105–108, 5.127; Arr. 4.11.6; Diod. 17.4.1; Plut. Alex. 2.1; Livy 32.22.11. 11. Homer Il. 2.678–679; Apollod. Epit. 3.13; Strabo 14.2.6. 12. Strabo 9.5.23. 199 notes to PaGes 88–91 13. Ἄντιφος δὲ ὁ Θεσσαλοῦ εἰς Πελασγοὺς ἐλθὼν καὶ τὴν χώραν κατασχὼν Θεσσαλίαν ἐκάλεσε, Apollod. Epit. 6.15b. 14. Yet another version was known to Diodorus, who has a Thessalus son of Jason and Medea reclaim the throne of Iolcus (in Thessaly) after the death of Pelias’ son Acastus and name the Thessalians after himself (4.55.2). In Fragment 7 of Book 7, Diodorus notes that he is aware of other versions of how the Thessalians got their name. See also Vell. Pat. 1.3.1–2. 15. Hammond 1967: 447–456, 1972: 439, 1989: 37. 16. From Pherecydes FGrH 3 F. 78 comes the detail that Heracles killed the king of Cos, Eurypylus, and later had a son named Thessalus through Chalciope, the king’s daughter.Cf. Apollod. Bibl. 2.7.1, 2.7.8. See also Van der Valk 1958: 117–131; Gantz 1996: 444–445. Recall that the Coan contingent in the Catalogue of Ships was under the command of Thessalus’ sons. 17. Arist. FF. 497, 498 Rose; Suda s.v. Aleuadai; Sch. Ap. Rhod. 3.1090; Sch. Pind. Pyth. 10.5; Plut. de frat. am. 21 = Mor. 492; Ael. H. An. 8.11. See Larsen 1968: 17; Helly 1995: 120. 18. See also Plut. Alex. 2.1; Curt. 4.6.29. 19. The story goes at least as far back as Agias’ Nostoi, which was summarized by Proclus in his Chrestomathia. See Argument 4 = West 2003: 157. Later sources: Pindar Nem. 4.51–53, 7.34–40; Paean 6.100–120; Hellan. FGrH 4 F. 84 (= Dion. Hal. 1.72.2); Eur. Androm . 1243–1250; Arist. Pol. 1285b. A scholion at Homer’s Odyssey 3.188, citing Eratosthenes, explains that Molossus was the ancestor of the Molossian kings. See also Eust. Od. p. 1463. On Molossus himself...